A commanding victory in the lung-busting Non-Stop Dusi Canoe Marathon was taken by Salt Rock’s Hank McGregor and Dusi canoe marathon champ Sbonelo Zondi’s on Friday.

The Non-stop Dusi sees competitors take on most of the Dusi canoe marathon’s distance in just one day.

“It is just unbelievable to have won both the Dusi and the Non-Stop Dusi this year,” said a thrilled Zondi afterwards.

“I would also like the thank Hank for agreeing to be my partner right at the last minute as well as our seconding crew, without them we probably would have been tempted pull out at some point today,” he added with a weary chuckle.

The win was McGregor’s second Non-Stop Dusi title after he took the event by storm in 2006 when he became the first person to win in a K1.

“It is really hard to explain how much pain we went through, especially going over Burma Road portage. It was an honour to paddle with Sbonelo today. He was just so strong and now I know exactly why he won the Dusi this year, he deserved it,” said McGregor.

“To have only paddled together for the first time on Thursday night at five o’clock and then to come here and win, it’s a really awesome feeling,” he added.

Lance Kime and Thulani Mbanjwa closed the gap between themselves and McGregor and Zondi to just twenty seconds at the bottom of the Nqumeni Hill portage and McGregor and Zondi knew they had to dig deep get a bigger lead.

The low water level lead McGregor and Zondi to run the notorious Burma Road portage, a decision which reaped its rewards but not without much suffering along the way.

“It was unbelievably tough and I don’t think I have ever been so happy to see Durban’s surf,” said McGregor.